Judith Love Cohen

Judith Love Cohen
Cohen and the Atlas / Able satellite on which she worked in 1959
Born	(1933-08-16)August 16, 1933 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	July 25, 2016(2016-07-25) (aged 82) Culver City, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Judith Love Siegel Judith Love Black Judith Love Katz
Occupation	Aerospace engineer Author
Years active	1952–2016
Spouse(s)	Bernard Siegel Tom Black David A. Katz
Children	4, including Neil Siegel and Jack Black

Judith Love Cohen (August 16, 1933 – July 25, 2016)^[1] was an American aerospace engineer and author. Cohen worked as an electrical engineer on the Minuteman missile, the science ground station for the Hubble Space Telescope, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, and the Apollo Space Program.^[2] After her retirement as an engineer, she founded a children's multimedia publishing company,^[3] eventually publishing more than 20 titles before her death in 2016.

Cohen was the mother of computer scientist and engineer Neil Siegel and actor Jack Black.

Early life and education[]

Cohen was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Sarah Cohen (née Roisman) and Morris Bernard Cohen.^[4] By fifth grade, Cohen's classmates were paying her to do their math homework. Cohen was often the only woman in her math classes, and decided she wanted to be a math teacher.^[5] By age 19, she was both studying engineering in college, and dancing ballet in the Metropolitan Opera Ballet company in New York.^[3] She was born Jewish.

Cohen received a scholarship to Brooklyn College to major in math, but realized she preferred engineering. After two years at Brooklyn College, Cohen married and moved to California, working as a junior engineer for North American Aviation, attending USC at night; she said that she went through both her BS and MS programs at USC without ever meeting another female engineering student.^[3] She received both her bachelor's and master's degrees from USC Viterbi School of Engineering, in 1957 and 1962 respectively,^[6] and continued her association with the university, serving as an Astronautical Engineering Advisory board member.^[3]

In 1982, Cohen became a graduate of the UCLA Engineering Executive Program.^[3]

Career[]

Cohen's engineering career began in 1952, when she worked as a junior engineer at North American Aviation.^[3] After graduation from USC Viterbi School of Engineering in 1957, she went on to work at Space Technology Laboratories. Space Technology Laboratories eventually became TRW (acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2002). Cohen stayed with the company until her retirement in 1990. Her engineering work included work on the guidance computer for the Minuteman missile and the Abort-Guidance System in the Apollo Lunar Module. The AGS played an important role in the safe return of Apollo 13 after an oxygen tank explosion left the Service Module crippled and forced the astronauts to use the Lunar Module as a "lifeboat." Supplies of electrical power and water on the LM were limited and the Primary Guidance and Navigation System used too much water for cooling. As a result, after a major LM descent engine burn 2 hours past its closest approach to the Moon to shorten the trip home, the AGS was used for most of the return, including two mid-course corrections.^{[7]pp. III-17,32,35,40} According to her son Neil,^[3] "My mother usually considered her work on the Apollo program to be the highlight of her career. When disaster struck the Apollo 13 mission, it was the Abort-Guidance System that brought the astronauts home safely. Judy was there when the Apollo 13 astronauts paid a “thank you” to the TRW facility in Redondo Beach."

In 1990, after retiring from practice as an engineer, Cohen began a publishing company called Cascade Pass with her 3rd husband, David Katz.^[3] They published two series of books:

• the "You Can be a Woman … " series was created to encourage very young girls to pursue careers in science and engineering

• the "Green" series focuses on promoting positive environmental practices, aimed at young children. Cascade Pass has sold more than 100,000 of their children's books in these two series.^[3]

Cascade Pass also published a book called The Women of Apollo (written by Robyn Friend), which features short biographies of four women who helped put the first man on the moon, Cohen among them.^[3][2][6]

Selected honors[]

• May 2014, IEEE-USA Distinguished Literary Contributions Award – for her work with STEM for children^[8]

Personal life[]

In the mid-1950s, Cohen married fellow engineer Bernard Siegel, who she met while she was a freshman in engineering school at Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York. They had three children: engineer/scientist Neil Siegel, Howard Siegel, and Rachel Siegel. The couple divorced in the mid-1960s.^[3]

In the mid-1960s, Cohen married Thomas "Tom" William Black, who converted to Judaism for her. In 1969, they had a son, Hollywood actor Jack Black. The couple divorced in the late 1970s.^[3]

In the early 1980s, Cohen married David A. Katz.^[3] They had been married for 35 years at the time of Cohen's death, after a short battle with cancer in 2016.^[3]

In 1989, Cohen's son Howard died of AIDS at the age of 31.^[9]

Selected works and publications[]

• A Clean series
  • A Cleaner Port. A Brighter Future. The Greening of the Port of Los Angeles (co-authored with Robyn Friend)^[10]
  • Friend, Robyn C.; Cohen, Judith Love; Rathbone, Lee (edited by) (2010). A Clean Earth: The Geothermal Story. Marina del Rey, CA: Cascade Pass. ISBN 978-1-880-59998-3. OCLC 667210598.^[11]
  • A Clean Planet: The Solar Power Story (co-authored with Robyn Friend)^[10]
  • A Clean City: The Green Construction Story (co-authored with Robyn Friend)^[10]
  • 2007: A Clean Sky: The Global Warming Story (co-authored with Robyn Friend)^[12]
    • Friend, Robyn C.; Cohen, Judith Love; Katz, David A. (illustrations); Yáñez, Juan (traducción al español) (2007). Un cielo limpio: la historia del calentamiento global (in Spanish). Marina Del Rey, CA: Cascade Pass. ISBN 978-1-880-59983-9. OCLC 156822457. – Spanish language translation of A Clean Sky: The Global Warming Story
  • Future Engineering: The Clean Water Challenge (co-authored with Robyn Friend)^[10]
  • Los Angeles Clean Energy Future (co-authored with Robyn Friend)^[10]
  • Los Angeles Water Future (co-authored with Robyn Friend)^[10]
  • A Clean Sea: The Rachel Carson Story

• You Can Be series
  • 2005: You Can Be a Woman Makeup Artist or Costume Designer (with Robyn Friend) ISBN 9781880599761
  • 2004: You Can Be a Woman Animator (with Vicky Jenson) ISBN 9781880599709
  • 1992: You Can Be a Woman Architect ISBN 978-1880599044
  • 1995: You Can Be a Woman Astronomer ISBN 9781880599174
  • 1999: You Can Be a Woman Basketball Player ISBN 9781880599402
  • 1999: You Can Be a Woman Botanist ISBN 978-1880599310
  • 1996: You Can Be a Woman Cardiologist ISBN 9781880599181
  • 2005: You Can Be a Woman Chemist ISBN 9781880599723
  • 1999: You Can Be a Woman Egyptologist ISBN 9781880599457
  • 1995: You Can Be a Woman Engineer ISBN 9781880599198 ASIN B00LLQL2TK
  • 2002: You Can Be a Woman Entomologist ISBN 978-1880599600
  • 2005: You Can Be a Woman Video Game Producer ISBN 978-1880599730
  • 2003: You Can Be a Woman Movie Maker
  • 2001: You Can Be a Woman Marine Biologist ISBN 9781880599532
  • 2002: You Can Be a Woman Meteorologist ISBN 9781880599587
  • 1994: You Can Be a Woman Oceanographer (with Sharon E. Franks, Sharon Roth Franks) ISBN 9781880599662
  • 1993: You Can Be a Woman Paleontologist ISBN 9781880599433
  • 2000: You Can Be a Woman Soccer Player^[13] (with Tisha Lea Venturini) ISBN 9781880599495
  • 2000: You Can Be a Woman Softball Player ISBN 9781880599471
  • 1992: You Can Be a Woman Zoologist ISBN 9781880599563

• Tu Puedes Ser series
  • Tu Puedes Ser Una Ingeniera
  • Tu Puedes Ser Una Arquitecta
  • Tu Puedes Ser Biologa Marina
  • Tu Puedes Ser Una Zoologa
  • Tu Puedes Ser Una Oceanografa

• Other
  • Friend, Robyn C.; Cohen, Judith Love; Katz, David A. (illustrations); Rathbone, Lee (editing) (2012). Electricity and You: Be Smart, Be Safe. Marina del Rey, CA. ISBN 978-1-935-99902-7. OCLC 803961217.^[10]

References[]

External links[]

• Judith Love Cohen at IMDb
• David A. Katz and Judith Love Cohen Papers at University of Southern Mississippi